My Third Half

Well, if you thought I would be talking about my better half, then you are wrong! This is about my third 'half marathon' and the second in Bengaluru Midnight Marathon.

I have always had fun running and never missed an opportunity to be part of marathons since I started at the last Bengaluru Midnight Marathon. This time the Bengaluru Midnight Marathon was jinxed due to security concerns raised from the recent terror attacks in Mumbai. But these terrorist bastards can never ruin the true spirit of runners. The marathon was rescheduled to 10th Jan 2009 instead of 13th Dec 2008 and the event was a great success witnessing an unexpected turn out of around 6000 people from various parts of the world.

12:00 midnight IST ushered the start of half marathon, which involved two loops covering a distance of 21.10kms. The running path was around Whitefield and it was a moderately tough path. The inclination varied at least 4-6 times in a loop and the uphill turned out to be quite difficult. My first 16kms involved pure running; but the last 5kms indeed tested my physical limitations involving both walking and running. Having practiced on the thread mills before the actual run with zero inclination, I thought I would complete in about 2hrs. Reality bites; it actually took me 2.5 hours for the run. It was indeed a tough and fun filled run with high spirits as always!

5000 Kilometers of Triversity

Nineteen days in seven destinations of three nations packed with diverse cultures and vibrant people, I would like to call it "5000 kilometres of Triversity".

iJag: Have you ever imagined travelling to Cambodia?

Vyas: Macha, check out the pictures from Angkor Wat! Its simply amazing!

Me: Yes, Angkor Wat is surely the destination! Thailand with it will be wonderful!

Niki: Super le, let’s do it!

Others: Cambodia?!? These guys must be crazy!!!

This is exactly how the idea to venture into Cambodia and Thailand started. After having spoken about this for almost a year, iJag and I decided to pug mark South East Asia sometime in October '08. Then Nikhil joined in. Jyothi who was at the client site in Tokyo decided to join for a part of the expedition.

Flights:

Friday, 17 October 2008 - Tiger Airways, Bangalore (23:00) to Singapore (05:50), Duration: 4h 20m

Monday, 20 October 2008 - Tiger Airways, Singapore (06:30) to Bangkok (07:50), Duration: 2h 20m

Tuesday, 28 October 2008 - Air Asia, Bangkok (17:05) to Krabi (18:25), Duration: 1h 20m

Wednesday, 05 November 2008 – Tiger Airways, Phuket (10:40) to Singapore (13:10), Duration: 1h 30m

Wednesday, 05 November 2008 - Tiger Airways, Singapore (21:15) to Bangalore (23:00), Duration: 4h 15m

Visas:

Singapore: We procured the Tourist Visa from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority through TT Services. The Tourist Visa is valid for a period of one month from the date of issue and for multiple entries. The application fee costs Rs.870/- for visa processing and an additional cost of Rs.500/- as service charges for TT Services. We received the visa within a week's time from the date of application through TT Services.

Thailand: We planned to procure the Visa on Arrival at the Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Entry Visa is valid for a period of 15 days from the date of issue and only for a single entry. The application fee costs 1,000 Bahts and is provided at the immigration checkpoints. I would strongly suggest procuring a Tourist Visa from the Thailand Consulate in the home country as we ended up taking the Entry Visa three times due to complexities.

Cambodia: We planned to procure the Visa on Arrival at the Aranyapathet-Poipet Border. The Entry Visa is valid for a period of 30 days from the date of issue and only for a single entry. The application fee costs 1,000 Bhats or US$20. But beware of scams at the Cambodian Consulate in Aranyapathet as they would demand more. It is better to procure the Entry Visa directly at the border crossing. The best option would be to procure Tourist eVisa, which is valid for 30 days over a period of 3 months from the date of issue.

[To be continued...]